Button Nose
by Victory's Raconteur
Summary: Alvin hurts Brittany and faces a choice: swallow his pride, or lose his friend. Which will he choose?


_**A One-Shot based off of the most bizarre AatC FF ever written…**_

_**.**_

_**The Hearts of Avalon:  
Button Nose**_

_**Skyline Theater**_

_**Friday night, 8:00 PM**_

_**Five years before the Avalon event…**_

_**.**_

Ten-year-old Alvin Seville snickered quietly to himself as he set the finishing touches on his latest scheme. The chipmunk's brown eyes squinted in the dark, reflecting the multicolored lights surrounding the small downtown theater as he examined the rope, flicking it with his finger to make sure it would stay in place.

The Skyline Theater was a small place, not so far away from the Seville home, with brick walls and flashy multicolored lights decorating the outside. Inside there was truly nothing but a one-level auditorium, a rounded stage with many overhead lights, and a small backstage area.

The chipmunks- or rather, the _Chipmunks_ as the group they were- had just finished a small singing presentation, and the _Chipettes_ were still on their last song, as Alvin could hear just inside the metal door:

"_I see your true colors- shinin' through,  
I see your true colors, and that's why I lo-ove you,  
So don't be afraid, to let them sho-ow,  
True colors…true co-o-olors,  
Are beautiful like a rai-ain bow…"_

'_Yeah,' _Alvin thought, looking over the metallic bucket that was suspended just over the door, _'We'll see how much color you have after this one, you prissy little pink-'_

"Alvin."

The voice was sudden enough to make the eldest chipmunk jump, and he quickly grabbed the rope to keep the bucket from falling, as his middle brother- clad in his usual blue sweater- stepped out through the door, a hard look on his dark-brown face.

"Watch it, Si!" Alvin said, "This junk ain't for you!"

"I know it's not," Simon replied curtly, "And I know who it _is _for…this isn't a good idea, and you know it."

"No," Alvin said, growing annoyed at his brother's pestering, "What I _know _is that that peppy little princess in there _ruined _my favorite 'A' shirt! She shoved me into a puddle and stained the dang thing!"

"And what's the difference between _that _shirt and the perfectly identical one you're wearing?" Simon asked in annoyance, indicating his older brother's deep red T-shirt, embroidered with a large yellow 'A' on the chest.

"Well, I, uh…." Alvin stuttered, "That one was…it…ugh, Si! It's payback, okay?!"

"Alright, look, Alvin," Simon said sternly, "You and Brittany's jokes and shenanigans and whatnot have gotten worse and worse over the past few years. I was afraid that one day you two might go too far and, Alvin, I think this is it. This may be…pushing it."

"Yeah, well," Alvin said, ignoring his brother's warning, "She pushed me first, okay?"

Simon sighed loudly, rolling his steel-blue eyes in annoyance. "Fine, but when you end up trashing your relationship with your best friend then don't get jealous when you see me snoozing with Jeanette and Theo cooking with Eleanor."

The middle chipmunk turned to leave, catching his older brothers words: "Ah, go tell your girlfriend she did a good job…"

Simon grumbled, but simply dropped the argument before heading back into the Skyline and closing the heavy door behind him. Alvin smiled mischievously, hiding to the side of the door, and held the rope tightly to make sure the bucket did not fall.

'_And now I play the waiting game…' _he thought.

Brittany was having a bad week.

Three failed tests at school, strained nerves, and a new rivalry with Alvin were only a few of the things that had really been getting to her over the past few days.

The eldest chipette could barely believe how well she was singing with how stressed she felt inside, as she and her sisters uttered the last notes of _True Colors, _striking their finishing poses under the soft blue lights of the stage.

It was a normal procedure. The lights turned normal, the crowd cheered and clapped, and the Chipettes waved and smiled at their fans. Brittany forced her smile, waving one small arm at the cheering mob. But as soon as the next act came along, the chipettes finally made their way off of the stage.

"Ugh," Brittany groaned, plopping down on a backstage bench to rub her little four-toed feet, "I can't believe we had a concert today…of all days! _Today!"_

"Oh, calm down, Brittany," Jeanette said gently, "You did just fine-"

"Just fine' isn't _great _Jeanette," Brittany grumbled.

"Okay then," Eleanor said, "You did _great."_

"Thanks," the elder chipette growled, slipping out of her bright pink stage outfit, undoing its short, frilly skirt and sliding it off of her small, ocher-brown body. She stretched her unclothed body, hugging herself and brushing both paws through her bare fur. It felt good to let her short orangish-brown coat air out after a performance.

Eleanor did the same, slipping off her lime-green outfit and using a soft brush to smooth down her sandy-brown fur, but Jeanette was too bashful to expose herself in any place deemed 'public,' despite her body being covered in chocolate-brown fur with a light-brown belly and face.

Suddenly, the backstage door opened, and Theodore and Dave entered the small room. "Hey girls, ready to- oh!" the black-haired man said, quickly looking away from the undressed chipettes. Brittany rolled her ice-blue eyes.

"What? It's not like we're all naked and pink or something!" the chipette snapped.

"Brittany, I know you're upset but don't take it out on David…" Jeanette said softly, blushing despite her still having her outfit on.

"Whatever…"

Jeanette stepped over to Dave, standing on her tiptoes to whisper: "Don't take it personally…she's had a pretty bad week…"

"Oh," Dave replied.

After Eleanor put on her normal spring-green shirt, she and Theodore went to sit on a bench, waiting and talking while the others got ready. Brittany clothed herself in a pink outfit with a small skirt and- feeling increasingly annoyed by the second- did not cease in 'helping' Jeanette undress herself from her stage outfit- practically yanking it off of her, causing her to drop her glasses.

The middle chipette practically shrieked and covered herself- though her fur was sufficient to do so- and quickly snatched up her purple glasses, grabbed her own violet outfit, and dove behind a costume chest to quickly get clothed, stumbling frantically over a pile of multicolored cloth.

"For crying out _loud, _Jeanette!" Brittany snapped, "It's not like we're naked or anything!" She stuffed her and her sisters' outfits into a bag, grabbing up her stuff to take home. Her cheeks were red with pent-up anger, even though there was reasonably nothing to be angry at. The eldest chipette was, simply, stressed out to her limit.

Just after the chipettes were ready, Simon entered the room, shutting the metal door with the words 'STAGE EXIT' written on the side. Jeanette blushed, quickly pulling up her purple skirt, slipping on her lighter-purple T-shirt, and putting on a blue-jean jacket over that.

She then moved out from behind the large chest, handing her stage outfit to Brittany- who snatched it away, not caring if it was folded, and stuffed it into the bag- before heading over to meet her counterpart.

"Um, hey, Simon," she said quietly, smiling.

The blue-clad chipmunk smiled back. "Hello, Jean. You did great out there tonight, by the way."

"Oh, um…thank you," she replied, "But um, I didn't see you in the crowd…where were you?"

"I just wasn't there for the last two minutes or so," Simon said, sitting down on a bench and inviting his friend to do so as well, "Dave asked me to go find Alvin and see what he was up to…"

"Oh…did you find him?" Jeanette asked, sitting down and shyly folding her tail around herself.

"Ah, in a manner of speaking…" he said, adjusting his black-rimmed glasses, "I'll warn you: when we step out that door, stay away from Brittany. Alvin's latest scheme is going to go too far, I know it, but the only way to teach him a lesson is to let it happen…"

"What?" Jeanette asked, suddenly worried, "Is he…he's not going to hurt my sister, is he…?"

"Not physically…I hope," Simon muttered, "Look, Alvin needs to know that jokes _can _hurt someone's feelings, and they _can _be just _too much. _If he had any sense in mind, he'd see that Brittany is very stressed right now and that this may not be the best time to prank her…but he doesn't. And that's my point."

Jeanette cast a worried glance at her fuming sister, who now seemed to be squabbling with Eleanor over something while Theodore watched in an awkward silence. The bespectacled chipette knew that Brittany's attitude was very unstable, and, as Simon had said, a prank was not going to make it better. But her friend had always been the wiser one, and if this was going to teach Alvin a lesson…then she should just let it be.

Finally, with everyone's things packed up and ready to go, with the sounds of the stage actors only short ways away, Dave began to usher the group out of the rather dim and dusty backstage area.

"Girls," he said, "Miss Miller is waiting to pick you up. Simon, did you find Alvin?"

"Yes…" Simon said uneasily, scratching one furry cheek.

"Well? Where is he?" the caretaker asked.

"He'll be along…momentarily…"

"Uh, alright then…" Dave said, confused.

Brittany, her stomach still flipping out of sheer annoyance, practically shoved her sisters out the stage exit door; Jeanette took a worried glance around the dark, outside alleyway, wondering what Alvin might be planning. Eleanor cast her a questioning glance.

"Hang on, I forgot my bag…" Brittany sighed. Annoyed just that little bit more, the eldest chipette turned back away from the doorway, running back to grab her things. Meanwhile, the two other chipmunks and chipettes made their way back out of the dark alleyway, waiting by their caretakers' cars. Dave held the exit door, waiting for Brittany.

The pink-clad chipette snatched up her bag, grumbling to herself, and trudged angrily back towards the door. _'I swear, if any other kind of crap happens to me I'm going to-"_

'_snick'_

Alvin, who had been hiding behind the open door this entire time, let go of the small twine, the only thing that had held up the bucket on top of the frame, the strand wrapped around its handle and again around a light post over the door.

The bucket, which was actually half-full can of black paint left over from one of Simon's science projects, immediately toppled from its perch, and the eldest chipmunk's scheme went perfectly.

The can toppled, its loose lid popped off, and the silver bucket's dark contents fell in a wide curtain…and utterly drenched Brittany in black, sticky paint.

The chipette shrieked in terror, unable to even see, and stumbled into the brick wall of the alley. Even Dave cried out in surprise, jumping back against the doorway.

Alvin came out of hiding…and burst out in cruel laughter at his counterpart's condition. _Everything _visible, from her bright pink outfit to her ocher-brown toes and furry face, were _covered _in sheer-black paint. The chipmunk continued to laugh, holding his 'A'-clad stomach, as poor Brittany fell to the ground right on her bottom, coughing at struggling to free her nose and eyes of the paint.

She did, and, upon hearing that familiar, mocking laughter, Brittany looked up, ice-blue eyes peering out from the black, sticky paint…to see Alvin, cackling wildly at her as if she were the best episode of the Three Stooges ever.

"Your color fits your temper, now, Brit!" he laughed, "Dark and moody as-"

Alvin stopped.

He peered closer…was, was that a _tear_ cutting a line through the paint on Brittany's cheek?

"Brit…?" he asked, cocking one eyebrow.

Suddenly, the black-coated chipette jumped to her feet- and, with a cry of severe anger and heartfelt _hurt, _Brittany lunged at Alvin, ice-blue eyes filled with tears, filled with rage…and shoved him, _hard, _sending the chipmunk stumbling into a trio of metal trash cans, landing with a loud _'clong!' _of steel.

"Whoa, what the-!?"

"Shut up, Alvin, just _shut up!" _Brittany screamed, standing over her counterpart with tiny claws shaking as if they wanted nothing more than to scratch his eyes out, "I've had it up to my freaking _ears _with you and your _stupid jokes! _And I've had all I can _take _out of you, you _stupid _chipmunk!"

"_I hate you, Alvin!"_

Alvin's liquid-brown eyes widened; his arms and legs went numb. He was feeling something, something he'd never felt before, as his black-drenched counterpart covered her eyes, in absolute tears from rage, and simply ran away. Out of the alley, and out of sight.

The red-clad chipmunk found himself trembling slightly. He was confused, not knowing what to think. For a moment, Alvin looked down, seeing two small, black paw-prints on his signature red shirt where Brittany had shoved him.

Slowly, he stood, trying to walk away…

"_Alviiiin…" _Dave growled.

The chipmunk winced. "Um, y-yeah, Dave…?"

"Alvin, that was…_in no way _necessary, nor was it even enough to be called a 'prank'. What you just did was _very _cruel…Brittany's been working hard and she's had a hard past few days, and you just shoved her right over the edge."

"Uh, she…kinda shoved _me, _Dave…" Alvin said with a nervous laugh.

"Alvin…" Dave said softly, "Listen to me: You've done a lot of crazy things in the past but _this _just went _way _too far."

"Si kind of said the same thing…"

"Then you should have listened to him, at least just this once. If you do not apologize to her, Alvin, then you may end up _losing _your best friend-"

"Best friend?!" Alvin asked, "She's crazy, plays pranks on me, and always tries to knock me down a notch no matter _what _I do!"

"And you don't do the same to her?" Dave asked, cocking one eyebrow.

"Well I-"

"Guys, what happened?!" Theodore asked, running back down the shadowy alley, Simon right on his tail; the latter's face hardened as he glared at Alvin. "Brittany just ran out there crying and…well, the girls just left!"

"Alvin just pulled a prank on Brittany," Dave said, glaring at his adopted son, "A big one."

"What…?" the youngest chipmunk asked, "Alvin, why would you do that!?"

"Theo, we _always _prank each other!" the red-clad chipmunk retorted, "Besides, I'm _tired _of that hothead trying to show me up all the time…I'm almost _glad _she hates me!"

That last statement felt…hollow.

"Alvin!" Dave said firmly.

"She what!?" Simon asked, stepping closer, "Alvin, don't you realize what you have just done to your best friend!?"

"Why do you keep saying that?" Alvin asked, wishing that this conversation could just _end,_ "I don't see you and Glasses squabbling over every stupid little thing you can! No, you just sleep and read and stuff! And Theo, you and Ellie cook and laugh all the time!"

"But me and Brit!?" Alvin continued, "We're…I…I don't know what we are…"

"You're _friends!" _Simon said exasperatedly, "Just a different kind than me and Jean or Theo and Eleanor. You and Brittany are _rivals._ You respect each other for being so equal, and therefore your competition also makes you friends."

Alvin sighed. "Can we please just drop this? She'll cheer up when she hits me with some random prank, maybe even tomorrow…"

"Even through all her…tantrums, I've never seen her that angry before," Dave said. Then: "Alvin, listen to me: If you don't apologize for what you've done…then you could lose Brittany's friendship forever."

_**8:30 PM**_

Alvin sat quietly on his red-clad bunk, arms crossed and face hard.

Grounded?

For playing a joke on Brittany?

'_Dave can be such a…_dad, _sometimes…' _the chipmunk thought, huffing in annoyance. He rolled onto his side, staring at the wall, trying to think of something he could do. Boredom glazed over his liquid brown eyes, and he sighed again.

'_I wish I had that big brain that Si lugs around…at least then I could read, or…wait, what am I thinking!?'_

So Alvin began to think hard, wondering what he could do…

He couldn't play any more jokes…that would get him in even more trouble. And with no TV or video games…

So, the chipmunk's mind began to travel back to what Brittany had said…

"_I hate you, Alvin!" she had screamed…_

Alvin then tried to imagine what life would be like without her. Quiet, peaceful, no pink-obsessed hothead trying to upstage him all the time. It would be better…right?

Right?

_Four-year-old Alvin swung on the park swings, trying with all his might to get higher up than the pink-clad chipette on the opposite swing. That silly _girl _thinks she can outdo him? Hmph!_

_Higher and higher the little chipmunk went, easily rising above the chipette's height…when suddenly, the swing came out right from under him. With a sharp yelp, Alvin was flung to the ground hard on his back, his vision jarring from the impact._

"_Oh…ow…" he muttered._

"_Hey, hotshot," the chipette said, her smug little furry face entering Alvin's vision as she leaned over him, "At least you don't have to worry about knocking your brain loose or something, eh?"_

_Alvin's eyebrows met as he frowned._

"_Why you little…"_

_In a flash the red-clad chipmunk was on his feet, sprinting after his counterpart, both of them almost equally matched in speed and endurance. He could not catch her, nor could they escape. And, in the end, both of the four-year-olds ended up simply collapsing from exhaustion, calling a truce…and there, that spring day in the park, a new kind of friendship was born._

Alvin's hard and annoyed face softened a bit at that memory. _'Even if all we did was fight over something…it was those fights that sorta kept us together…it'll be kinda boring without competing with her, I guess…'_

For five more terribly inactive minutes, the eldest chipmunk simply lay there on his lower bunk, staring at the light brown planks above that supported Theodore's mattress. Another memory finally came to him…

"_I never want to grow up, Alvin," four-year-old Brittany said to Alvin as the two rolled playfully across the lush, soft grass, "Ever!"_

"_Neither do I!" he replied as they tumbled, his little red cap fluttering from his head, "Grown-ups have to work all the time, when we get to play like this!"_

_She laughed as the chipmunk wrestled with her soft, pink-clad form, each little movement sending up puffs of white dandelion seeds into the warm spring air._

"_It's so beautiful, here, Alvin," she said, playfully shoving him off of her, "I never wanna leave!"_

"_I know," Alvin replied as he rolled away, "It's amazing, isn't it?"_

_The two little ones sighed softly, breathing in the sweet aroma of nearby flowers, enjoying the glorious warmth in the air._

_They looked around, little sets of brown and ice-blue eyes scanning the beautiful ring of flowers around them. It was a rainbow of pure beauty, as the sun glinted off each and every little blossom._

_Beyond this ring was a thick, high wall of trees, for this rather mysterious clearing was located deep in the woods, a good run away from the Seville household._

_This was a place where the two were not rivals. Where they never fought, only played as the best of friends._

"_Alvin?" the chipette asked her red-clad counterpart, "Why do we have to grow up?"_

"_I don't know," he replied, his deep brown eyes scanning the beauty around him, "It doesn't make sense. If everyone's always telling us it's a bad world out there, then why leave? Why can't we just stay here?"_

_Alvin's little ear twitched, and he quickly waved away the little honeybee that had decided to tease him._

"_Yeah," Brittany whispered. She suddenly got to her feet, ears twitching at the sound of the bugs and birds singing around her, and trudged through the tall, green grass to the edge of the little clearing. _

_Grasshoppers jumped and buzzed around the pink-clad chipette as she leaned over to pick a single, tiny white flower from the mass of colorful blossoms that outlined the clearing._

_Alvin, even at his young age, couldn't help but admire how the sunlight seemed to slide off Brittany's golden-brown fur like glass._

_After a moment, she turned, walked back over to Alvin, and sat down on the grass beside him. She stared so intently at that one, single little flower, her ice-blue eyes making the tiniest of movements as she studied every little feature on the blossom._

"_Brittany?" the red-clad chipmunk asked quietly, "You okay?"_

"_Yeah…" she said softly. Finally, she moved her attention off the delicate white flower to him, staring deep into his dark brown eyes. "Alvin?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_There…_are_ angels here, you know?"_

_For a moment, Alvin simply sat there, thinking about what the chipette had just said. He hadn't heard that phrase in so long…the chipmunk had already forgotten who had said it._

_Alvin reached down and picked up his tiny, fallen hat, brushing off the little yellow 'A' before placing it back on his head._

_The young red-clad chipmunk looked back over at his counterpart, whose ice-blue eyes were once again studying the tiny flower._

"_Yeah…" Alvin said softly, "There is an angel here…"_

Alvin felt his cheeks begin to burn slightly with embarrassment, as he remembered that those last words had been directed at Brittany. The result: the very first time he had ever hugged her…or rather, hugged a _girl. _Period.

'_We always did love that place…' _he thought, the hardness of discontentment in his face now completely gone. He looked down, down his red-clad body, at his bare, four-toed feet, the toes of which ended in tiny, brown claws.

Alvin briefly tried to remember how he had ever learned of that place…the Blossom Ring? No, flower…Flower something…

Whatever it had been called, there was something special about it. It always made the two eldest youngsters refuse to fight for even a few moments of their lives. The instant they stepped inside that rainbow of petals, they were no longer rivals…they were friends. Friends- Alvin dared to think- that were even stronger than Simon and Jeanette, or Theodore and Eleanor.

In fact, Alvin remembered that, in the day of that flashback, as soon as he and Brittany had left the ring, they had raced back to the house, squabbling with each other all the way there.

He chuckled, another memory filtering through his mind…

'_Did plan wrk', Alvin texted, sending the simple message through his cell phone to Jeanette's. He waited patiently for a reply, snickering softly, hoping that she would say yes._

_It was April Fool's Day, and nine-year-old Alvin had come up with his greatest prank yet. After convincing the normally docile and sweet-hearted Jeanette to join in, he then delivered her the one tool to complete the job: a packet of pink hair dye._

_If the plan worked, Jeanette would have placed the packet in the showerhead…just before Brittany was about to take her shower._

'_You like pink?' Alvin thought mischievously, 'I'll give you pink, Brit…plenty of it.'_

_A few moments later, the text scrolled across the chipmunk's small cell-phone: 'the mouse has taken the cheese.'_

_Jeanette's message alone- a well-worded one despite being texted on a phone, at that- was enough to make Alvin burst out laughing, almost dropping the phone as he fell back onto his bunk, kicking his feet hysterically._

"_Ah, I'm guessing your little scheme with manipulating my friend actually worked?" Simon asked from across the room, looking up from his book._

"_Heck yeah it did!" Alvin laughed, "Brittany's gonna be a prissy little bright pink princess, now!"_

"_But did you have to use Jeanette…?" Simon asked, annoyed, "Brittany is bound to get angry at her…if you get my friend in trouble, I'll-"_

"_Don't worry about it, Si!" Alvin defended, "Glasses doesn't do stuff like that…Brit will know who did it."_

_Later, just after lunch, Alvin got another text: 'brit yanked my tail hard'_

'_?' Alvin texted back._

'_rope arnd tail pull me up in doorway. brit mad at u.'_

'_tell her 2 bring it on.'_

_Barely an hour later, while Alvin was busy watching TV and Theodore and Dave were fixing snacks, the doorbell rung. "I'll get it," said Simon, hopping off the sofa-chair, putting his book away to go answer the door._

_Alvin heard the door squeak open, Simon chatting quietly with someone._

"_Hey, uh, Al?" the blue-clad chipmunk said, striding back into the living room on rather short legs, "It's for you."_

"_What?" Alvin asked lazily, but his middle brother was already lost in his book. Again._

_With a sigh of slight annoyance- and not quite thinking the situation through- Alvin hopped down from the couch, walked around through the kitchen, in front of the staircase, and finally to the front door._

_Rubbing one liquid-brown eye, the chipmunk stretched up, grabbing the golden knob, and opened the door…_

_Alvin had but a split second to try and recognize Brittany, who's entire body was nearly covered in one of Jeanette's violet hoodies. Every visible part of her body- from her angry, furry face to her lower body and legs- was a deep shade of bright, vibrant pink, her ocher-brown fur stained with the dye._

_Before the chipmunk could utter even a word, a rather heavy, rectangular bag slammed into his face, and exploded in a huge puff of white smoke. Alvin was knocked onto his behind from the forceless blow, not so much hurt as rather dazed and confused. He coughed deeply, hardly able to see past the white smoke…flour?_

"_That's what you _get, _Alvin Seville!" the very much ticked-off chipette snapped, glaring down at him with angry ice-blue eyes that he could hardly take seriously against her bright pink face, "How dare you turn Jenny against me and…turn me pink!"_

"_Hey," Alvin coughed, trying to hold back his laughter; the situation was utterly ridiculous, "I thought you liked pink, baby?"_

"_What did you just call me!?" the chipette snapped, glaring at him from under the violet hood, bright pink fur bristling._

"_Alright," Alvin said, brushing some of the white flour out of his brown fur, "Is that your angry face? Or are you just trying to look cute, I can't tell!"_

_With that, the white-scuffed chipmunk leapt to his feet, grabbed Brittany's hood, and yanked the shirt right off of her before she could react. The chipette shrieked in surprise, struggling to cover her naked, vibrant-pink body. Alvin burst out laughing: _every single _strand of her fur, from the top of her head to the tip of her tail, was pinker than a wad of strawberry bubble gum._

"_Nice bod, Br-" Alvin tried to say, but his counterpart immediately tackled him off the brick steps and onto the grass, wrestling madly with him._

_Alvin could only laugh…and laugh…and laugh…_

Alvin sighed.

'_Maybe they were right,' _he said softly, _'Without Brittany around…things just might be boring. I don't really have anything to do…TV and games? That'll get boring…but Brit always fought back when I'd do something to her. It was always…interesting, to see what she'd do next.'_

'_Now…without her…'_

Alvin swallowed. Suddenly, his heart aching, he realized what a terrible mistake he had made. Without Brittany life would be _boring. _He really had no other tight friends like her…and he had just thrown her away. Why? Because he was…stubborn?

"Aw, man…" he said softly, "I…I have to get her back. Now."

As quietly as he could, the chipmunk rolled off of his bunk, padding quietly towards the window. What he was about to do would get him in a _lot _of trouble with Dave…but the blow would be softened, if only he could get his best friend to forgive him.

Alvin unlatched the window's lock, slid it upwards…and got one leg out before he heard the bedroom door open behind him.

"A-Alvin!?"

The eldest chipmunk looked up, recognizing the confused and somewhat frightened voice of his younger brother. Theodore stared at him with wide green eyes, standing frozen in the doorway, perhaps with a hundred ideas of what his big brother might be doing whirling through his head.

"Theodore," Alvin said cautiously, "Look…I really hurt Brittany, and…as much as I hate to say it: I need her as a friend. I'm gonna go tell her I'm sorry. Go ahead and tell Dave if you want, but I'm not stopping, okay?"

The younger chipmunk looked down. Alvin? Apologizing? _That _was…unlikely.

But Brittany _was _his best friend…it made sense in a way.

Theodore looked back up at Alvin, and the green-clad munk could see in those deep brown eyes that his big brother was sincerely sorry. So, with a wave and a little smile, Theodore ushered Alvin to go; that it was okay.

Alvin smiled. "Thanks, Teddy," he said softly, and with that the red-clad chipmunk swung out the window, his small body barely feeling a thing as he dropped onto a shrub just under its pane.

He sneaked around back, keeping his two-and-a-half foot body low, carefully avoiding the windows so as not to be spotted. He prayed that Theodore would keep him covered, but the littlest chipmunk was not a very good liar. It would not be long until Dave was alerted of his absence.

As if he cared.

'_I'm coming, Brit…'_

What Alvin had not taken into consideration was the distance; it was nearly two miles into town and a good half hour or more of walking before the chipmunk finally found the Miller residence.

The old brick house, with the wall of hedges covering the back yard, looked rather gloomy in the late-afternoon light…or was it night? The sky was a darkish-blue, but Alvin could not quite see the moon yet. After his performance, and his rather long journey, the chipmunk was exhausted…but he had made it.

Taking a deep breath to summon his courage, Alvin quietly padded up onto the house's small wooden porch. He swallowed…and rung the doorbell.

Barely half a minute passed before he heard footsteps approaching, small ones. The numerous locks of the worn-out door clicked as they were undone, and it finally cracked open. A single, lime-green eye stared out at him.

Eleanor gasped. "Alvin!?" she said, opening the door completely to glare at him, "What do you think you're doing here, jerk!?"

"I…I came to talk to Brit-"

"No way! Not after what you did to-"

"Look," Alvin said exasperatedly, "Can I just talk to Miss Miller or something…?"

"She's kind of an old lady, Alvin," Eleanor muttered, "She goes to sleep _way _earlier than us."

"Just let me see Brittany!" Alvin said.

"No-"

"What's going on?" Jeanette said softly, walking up behind her younger sister. Alvin could see that she was wearing a long-sleeved purple sweater, oddly similar to Simon's blue one.

"Alvin just popped up and now he wants to see Brittany!" Eleanor said angrily.

"Alvin?" Jeanette asked, using her higher stature to look out over the chipmunk's shoulder, "Did…did you _walk _all the way here?"

"Dang right I did…" Alvin muttered, "And I didn't do it for nothing…_please _let me come in! I just want to talk with Brittany, that's all."

"She's still trying to clean that crud off of her, jerk…" Eleanor snapped.

"Ellie…' Jeanette scolded softly, "Alvin, I'm sure plenty of people are going to be…upset, about this. But, by all means, you are, uh, welcome to try and make amends with my sister…"

Eleanor, not wanting to get in a fight with her middle sister, simply glared at Alvin with angry lime-green eyes as he stepped inside, and the youngest chipette shut the door behind him.

If he were not in a hurry, Alvin would have gladly thrown his arms around Jeanette in a thankful hug- which, even then, seemed more than a little odd- but at the current time he knew he had to hurry.

The Miller residence was a one-story home, so the chipmunk had no problem locating the bathroom; it was simply another closed door in the back hallway. Light shown out from the crack under the door…and Alvin could have sworn he heard something sniffle.

The chipmunk leaned in.

Yes…someone was crying…and he could easily guess who.

Alvin swallowed again, reaching one small paw up…and he ever-so-gently knocked on the door. Immediately, the sniffled stopped, and the dim hallway was silent for a moment.

"What?" Brittany's voice asked flatly, muffled by the closed door.

Alvin could not bring himself to answer. He was afraid of what his friend might say.

"_What?"_ Brittany asked again, this time louder, "I can't grab the doorknob because of this mess, so _what _already?"

The red-clad chipmunk twisted the little doorknob, opening the door slightly so that he could peek inside. In the bathroom was Brittany, sitting in the bathtub, struggling to scrub her fur clean of the messy black paint. Alvin had never felt so guilty in his life.

"Hey, uh, it's me, Brit…" Alvin whispered. Water splashed as the chipette jumped, his voice surprising her. But it quickly wore off, leaving Brittany to glare with dangerous, ice-blue eyes, in high contrast with the black-stained fur of her face.

"What are _you _doing here?" she hissed.

"I…I just-"

"If you think I'm falling for some stupid apology just so you can throw a pie in my face or something," Brittany snapped, "Then you have another thing coming, _chipmunk!"_

"N-No, really…" Alvin said, wincing at his friend's anger, "Brit, I really want to say I'm sorry. Si tried to tell me this would happen, but I-"

"That what would happen?" the chipette interrupted, "That you'd get shoved on your behind for pissing me off even more than I already was!?"

"Well, _that…" _Alvin said awkwardly, "And that I'd…that I would…um…"

"Spit it out," Brittany growled from the bathtub.

"That I would…you know…" the chipmunk looked down, "Lose my best friend…"

Silence.

Brittany's critical eyes narrowed, her head tilted, as she studied the chipmunk. What was she thinking? Did she believe him? Alvin continued to look down at the scuffed linoleum floor, wiggling his toes, waiting impatiently for his former friend's answer.

The butterflies in his stomach began to go insane.

Finally:

"You…do you mean it?" Brittany asked softly. Alvin looked up, afraid to meet her gaze.

"Mean…what?"

"All of it…that you don't want to, uh, lose me? And…I'm your…best friend?"

Alvin managed a little smile, leaning against the doorframe. "Uh…yeah. I mean…if you _want _to be…again."

Brittany's gaze softened, just a bit. She ran one black arm over her paint-stained lips, trying to make it easier to talk, but only managed to make herself gag as the taste intruded into her mouth…only adding to Alvin's guilt.

"Look," she said, spitting into the bathwater to try and remove the taste, "If you do anything like this again…" she paused to spit again, "…then I'll never forgive you. But...I guess I can let this one go…I mean, what can I expect from Alvin Seville, huh?"

She sighed. "I deserve it anyways…such a bad week and I take it out on everyone."

"Well, hey," Alvin said with a smile, "Pranks are fun and all but…I never thought there _was _a 'too far' until now. If you'll…_forgive _me, then…I promise ya, Brit: I'll never hurt you like this again. _Ever."_

The chipette looked up, and Alvin could see where her tears had managed to cut tracks through the muck on her cheeks. "Here's the deal: no more tricks using junk to mess up each other's fur…and I'll drop this for now."

"Hey, you have to admit," Alvin joked lightly, "That thing with the pink hair dye _was _pretty funny…"

"Do that again and you'll wake up one morning with _no _fur, mister…" Brittany said with a smile, though it was barely visible, "You'll be the _naked _version of 'pink'…"

Alvin chuckled, feeling a very large and very dark weight finally lift from his chest. It felt _so good…_finally being able to suck up his pride for just a moment to rebuild his friendship with Brittany. Now for the harder part…

"Hey, uh…" he said cautiously, "Do you mind if I come in? I want to…you know, help out…"

Brittany cocked one black-stained eyebrow. "You know I'm sitting in the bathtub, right?"

"Erm, yeah…"

"…with no clothes?"

"We have fur."

"True…"

Brittany looked down at her naked body, feeling sticky and rather unpleasant from the paint. Every movement caused her fur to slide together in a way that felt very disgusting. The bathwater- which was only up to her lower back- had a grayish tint. She had already wasted two old rags trying to scrub herself clean.

She sighed. "Fine…but if you try anything dirty, I swear to God I'll-"

"Relax, Brit!" Alvin said, his face shading red as he realized why Brittany was so hesitant, "If dumping paint on ya was too much, then you'd _murder _me if I…I just want to help…"

"Okay…" the chipette said, gesturing for him to come in.

As quietly as possible, Alvin stepped into the little bathroom, shutting the door behind him with a soft _'click'. _He then approached the bathtub, truly feeling in his heart that he wanted to help his newly-reformed friend.

But the guilt still ate at him as he caught glimpse of Brittany's entire body. She no longer looked like an ocher-brown pink-loving chipette. Instead, she looked like the _shadow _of a chipette, with her fur absolutely covered in a slick film of paint.

"Once again…" he said, picking up a fresh rag and soaking it in clean sink-water, "I'm…sorry for this."

"Getting this crud off will be hard enough for ya that I'll just call it even if you can do it…" Brittany muttered, turning around to present her back to Alvin. It was then that the chipmunk realized that there _were _a few clean parts of her body; rather, the parts that had been covered by her pink outfit when she had been pranked.

From the base of her neck to the base of her tail was clean. Her tail, thighs, and everything below was stained. Her head, arms, legs, and so on were likewise effected. Only her chest, upper belly, shoulders, and upper back were not tainted by the paint.

"Well?" Brittany said, "Quit staring, weirdo…"

"Just going over the damage…" Alvin defended.

"Sure…"

Only a few minutes later, Jeanette came in to check on the two…and was both shocked and embarrassed to see Alvin scrubbing her unclothed sister's fur. But Alvin and Brittany quickly explained, and the middle chipette- while still somewhat skeptical of the awkward-looking situation- accepted the excuse, and left them alone.

"So, uh," Brittany said, wincing in slight discomfort as Alvin tugged on her tail with a washcloth, trying to rinse the paint from the long strands of fur, "Did you…really walk all the way over here? For me?"

"Yeah," Alvin said, giving one last tug before looking over his friend's freshly-cleaned and bushy ocher-brown tail, "It was pretty fun going commando for a while."

"Commando?" Brittany asked, turning her head to smile at him, "I'm surprised you even found your way over here, lug-nut…"

She yelped as Alvin tugged her tail again, hard, just to be annoying. He looked up at her stained face, smiling back…and cocked his head. Brittany stared back, a confused look on her sticky face.

"What?" she asked.

"Well…" Alvin said softly, "It's just…this crud really brings out your eyes…"

Brittany pulled back slightly in surprise, but the reaction only gave Alvin a clearer view. Her deep, ice-blue eyes seemed to sparkle even brighter than normal, against the sheer black paint. For a moment in time…she was _beautiful _to him…

"Wha-?"

The chipmunk quickly cleared his throat.

"Uh, close your eyes, Brit," Alvin said, wringing out another fresh rag. The chipette did as she was told, and the chipmunk began to gently scrub his friend's furry face, wiping over her closed eyes and pursed mouth. Because the fur was short there, it took only minutes for Brittany's fluffy cheeks to be returned to their natural puffiness.

Finished, Alvin stepped back for a moment to admire the results…

"Ah, oops," he said, leaning in, "Missed a spot." Brittany kept still as the chipmunk used a small, clean portion of the rag to rub her little pink nose- where a single black spot still rested- in an almost ticklish way; she could not help but smile.

Alvin looked her over again…and he felt something blossom inside him: a warmth, like a flower opening to show its petals to the morning sun. As he looked at Brittany, his deep brown eyes lingered on her beautiful, ocher-brown face…what the heck was happening to him!?

"Well, uh…" he said, swallowing, "I don't think you trust me to…uh…"

"What?" Brittany asked, feeling the same flower blossom within her own heart. She _should _have felt uncomfortable, being stared at like this. But…she was actually happy, feeling like the apple of his eye for just a moment.

It was as amazingly creepy as could be.

"Well…the only parts of you that are still covered in paint are…um…" Alvin said awkwardly.

"What?" Brittany asked.

Alvin chuckled. "Okay then, I don't mind scrubbing your little be-hind clean!"

Brittany looked down, seeing that her legs, waist, and bottom were still coated in paint…and her face turned red as a perfectly ripe cherry as she suddenly realized what her counterpart meant.

"G-Give me that!" she cried, snatching the rag away from Alvin- who burst out laughing at the hilariously awkward scene that followed, with Brittany scrubbing frantically to get herself clean and to shut Alvin up.

Finally, breathing rather hard, the chipette tossed the final rag into the dark-grayish bathwater around her. She looked up, ice-blue eyes sparkling, and smiled at her counterpart.

"All clean, I guess," she said, still feeling a bit dirty. The chipette reached down, undoing the bath-plug so that the tainted water could drain away. She stood, feeling a bit exposed, and turned so that Alvin could look her over completely. "How do I look?"

"Like the hothead I used to know," Alvin chuckled, and Brittany huffed, playfully swatting him with her soaked tail. "You still look a little grayish, though…go ahead and rinse off in the shower, I'll leave ya alone."

Brittany smiled, taken completely off guard by the hard-headed chipmunk's sudden compassion for her. "Um…thank you, Alvie…" she said softly, but quickly slapped one paw over her mouth.

"You're we-," Alvin started to say, "Wait, what did you just call m-"

"I'm getting in the shower now, Alvin!" Brittany said frantically, practically throwing the shower curtain between her and her red-clad counterpart, "P-Privacy please!"

"Alright, alright…" the chipmunk chuckled, "I'll wait for you, though…"

Alvin turned to leave, and was about to shut the door, when he heard:

"Thank you…Alvin."

"No problem at all, Brit."

A few minutes later in the hall, while Alvin was still leaning up against the wall, waiting for Brittany, Eleanor poked her head around the corner, lime-green eyes cautious.

"Hey, Alvin?" she called, careful not to wake Miss Miller, "Dave's on the phone…he's not happy…"

"I'd expect that," the chipmunk replied with a nervous smile. Knowing that his counterpart was still rinsing off, he knew he had time to head back to the living room to answer the phone.

Alvin cleared his throat as he picked up the small corded phone. "Uh, hello…?" he said nervously, "Um, yeah, Dave…it's me…"

Alvin and Brittany sat in the lamplight barely ten minutes later, with the chipette wrapped in a pink bath towel, while the chipmunk waited for Dave to come pick him up. It was dark out, easily past nine, and Jeanette and Eleanor were already dressed in pajamas, sitting in their room and chatting about one thing or another.

It was oddly quiet, with the slight smell of paint and shampoo lingering in the air around the towel-clad Brittany, and an odd warmth in Alvin's heart.

For once, Alvin and Brittany did not say a thing. They did not fight, or compete for something ridiculous, but instead simply sat on the old leather couch, silently enjoying each other's company…which was a huge thing, for them.

"Well," Alvin said quietly, "This was an interesting way to spend a late afternoon, eh?"

"What?" Brittany said, smiling, "Getting Alvin Seville to say he's 'sorry' for the first time in his life? Or also getting him to scrub me off after his dirty little prank went one hair too far?"

"Sort of…" the chipmunk replied. A sly smile crossed his face as he continued: "I actually like the part where I got to see Brittany Miller naked!"

Alvin chuckled again as Brittany's face turned a shade of red he found rather cute, as it was _just _dark enough to be seen through her orangish-brown fur. He could tell she was embarrassed as heck…

"Alvin, if you tell _anyone _about what-"

"Relax," Alvin interrupted, "I didn't mean anything by it…I was helping you out anyways, right?"

"Yeah…" she said softly.

"You know the funny thing," the chipmunk said with a laugh, "Is that even after all this sweet-talk, we're _still _gonna be at each other's throats about something really stupid tomorrow."

"I'll bet five bucks you'll be the one to start it," Brittany snickered.

"I'll take that bet…" Alvin replied.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Alvin answered it, to find a very annoyed and very angry Dave looking down at him, his face hard.

"Alvin," he said, "I cannot believe that you snuck out of the house, ran off, then I find you coming over here just to cause the girls even more trouble-"

"He didn't cause _any _trouble, Dave!" Brittany defended, taking the man off guard, "Alvin came all the way over here _just _to say he's sorry, and even helped me clean up!" She briefly turned around, lowering her towel so that the caretaker could see her perfectly clean ocher-brown fur. "See?"

Dave looked back down at his eldest adopted son. "You…did?"

"Of course I did, Dave!" Alvin said, "I mean, you and Si and Theo were right…Brit's my best friend. I hurt her. And now I fixed it!"

"I…see," Dave said, "Well then, Alvin, I suppose I can lighten up on you a bit. I'm not happy about you sneaking out, but the _reason _you did it…I'm proud of you."

Alvin beamed a smile, as did Brittany, as she pulled her towel back around her small body.

"Well," the human said, "It's getting late, and I suppose we should get out of the girls' hair, right?"

Brittany mocked a surprised huff of annoyance. "Oh, _Dave," _she joked, "It's _fur, _silly!" Alvin laughed.

"Right, got it," Dave chuckled, "Tell your sisters and Miss Miller that we said goodnight, okay?"

"Okay," the chipette replied, as the black-haired man stepped quietly back out the door, "Goodnight!"

Brittany watched, feeling oddly calm, as her red-clad friend and his caretaker stepped out the door, and into the night. She was calm, as she quietly waved goodbye to the two, her little hand shifting side to side. But she also seemed a bit…sad. As if something else should have been said.

Alvin looked back as he opened the door of Dave's little silver car, noticing that Brittany still stood there in the doorway, and suddenly felt the 'flower' blooming in his heart yet again. Only this time, bigger than it ever was before. Her little ice-blue eyes looked almost lonely, her wave almost sad…

'_Want to try something crazy…again?' _he asked himself, _'That'll be a record for me…'_

"Alvin?" Dave asked, closing the driver-side door and turning his head to look at the chipmunk, "Is something wrong?"

Alvin was silent for a moment, watching Brittany…she didn't move, not even to shut the door, and still stood there in the open, despite wearing nothing but a towel. Something seemed wrong…

'_Alright, that's it. I'm doing it.'_

"Hang on one sec, Dave," Alvin said quickly. Without any explanation, without even asking himself what he was doing or what he was _going _to do, Alvin ran back across the moonlit lawn, up the wooden steps, and before his counterpart could respond, into the house.

Alvin quickly grabbed Brittany's wrists, gently twirling the startled chipette around behind the door so that Dave could not see them. She was quick to grab her towel as it threatened to fall, but the chipmunk did not even notice.

He held her gently, not letting go of her wrists.

"A-Alvin?" she asked, in an oddly content voice, "What the heck?"

"It's…I was just…I…I saw you, and I…" he stuttered…but then stopped.

Something about Brittany's sparkling little eyes just…_got _to him. They were not angry, frightened, or even confused. They were just…_beautiful._

'_That's it.'_

Without hesitation, Alvin quickly leaned in…and, before Brittany could even react, the red-clad chipmunk planted one soft, fuzzy kiss on her pink, button nose.

Brittany blinked in surprise, as Alvin quickly looked away, at the dirty-brown carpet under his feet. He let out a quick laugh, sounding terribly nervous, yet happy at the same time. Then, without so much as one last "goodnight!" the chipmunk was gone.

The chipette's towel fell as she blinked again, watching as Alvin left. She watched as he hopped into the little silver car, shut the door…and gave her one last little wave.

Brittany could only stare, her mouth open in surprise, until her best friend was gone, disappearing into the night. As soon as the headlights disappeared around the next house over, the naked chipette quietly shut the door, casually flipping every little lock back in to place.

She reached up with one small, delicate paw…and, gently, she touched her little nose, right where Alvin had…had he? Had he kissed her? Not a serious kiss, but…a _kiss, _nonetheless.

Suddenly, Brittany began to feel somewhat 'bubbly' inside. The unclothed chipette clasped her hands together, letting out a short, quiet laugh of pure happiness. She was happy, and the empty feeling was absolutely gone.

Brittany was _so _happy, in fact, that she did not even notice Eleanor and Jeanette standing there, watching their big sister dance up and down, stark naked, giggling to herself as if she were being tickled with a feather.

"Um," Jeanette started, clearing her throat, "Brittany…?"

Brittany yelped in surprise, tripping over her own tail and falling right on her bottom on the pink towel. She looked up, ice-blue eyes wide. "U-Uh, girls! Wha-what are you doing up?"

"It's Friday night," Eleanor said, confused, "And not that late…what the heck did Alvin do to you!?"

"I…he, and…" Brittany stuttered. She sighed; there was no way her sisters would leave her alone if she told the truth. So: "Um, nothing, sis…"

Brittany looked back at the door, thinking of the gentle feel of Alvin's lips against her nose.

"Nothing at all."

"Alright, Alvin," Simon said as he slipped into a blue sweater, same in every way except color to the one Jeanette had been wearing, "Tell me, _please, _that everything was settled…and that you didn't do something stupid to make it worse."

"Oh, _relax, _Si!" Alvin defended, swapping his signature red 'A' shirt for a dark red pajama one, "I didn't do anything stupid…I even think me and Brit are tighter than we were before!"

"Wow…really?" the middle chipmunk asked.

"How'd you get her to be your buddy again, Alvin?" Theodore asked from above, as he snuggled into the covers. The little guy had actually done a good job of keeping Alvin covered…until he just snapped under Dave's 'hard-stare.'

"Well, uh…" Alvin stammered. It was _not _going to be pretty, if he revealed that he had practically given Brittany a bath, followed by a kiss on the nose. "We…I…ugh, just drop it. We're friends again, and that's all that matters, right?"

"I suppose so, Alvin," Simon said, adjusting his black-rimmed glasses. The middle chipmunk watched as his older brother hopped off of his lower bunk, striding over to the window. Alvin's head was actually lower than the pane, but he could still look out of it, up towards the night sky.

"You know…" Simon added, "Dave was…very proud of you, Alvin."

"Yeah…" the chipmunk said, scratching his head nervously.

Simon made a face. "You kept the paint, didn't you?"

"Yep."

"…And Dave will discover this _when?"_

"Well…in about three…two…one…"

Sure enough, the group of three heard a short, muffled _'clunk' _from somewhere below…followed by an all-too-familiar sound:

"_AAAAlVIIIIIN!"_

Despite this, Simon could only chuckle- which confused Theodore.

"I suppose…you can't beat the master, now can you?" he asked with a smile.

Alvin looked out the window, into the perfectly clear night sky, where sparkling stardust marked great entities far above that he would never see in his life. The beautiful, silvery moon reflected in his liquid brown eyes…and he realized: he was happy.

"Yeah," he said softly.

"You can't beat her."

* * *

**_~ S ~_**

**_-As always, my faithful readers, please leave a review, as an indication that my words have been graced by your thoughtful presence…_**

**_-Thanks for all the support!_**


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